Chef is a term commonly used to refer to a person who cooks professionally. Within most restaurants however, the term is more highly defined. In a professional kitchen setting, the term is used only for the one person in charge of everyone else in the kitchen, the executive chef.
“Chef” is a contraction of the French phrase chef de cuisine, the “chief” or “head” of a kitchen, but in English usage, especially outside the professional kitchen environment, has come to mean any professional cook.
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Various chef titles
Below are various titles given to those working in a professional kitchen and each can be considered a title for a type of chef. Many of the titles are based on the brigade system documented by Georges Auguste Escoffier, while others have a more general meaning depending on the kitchen in which one works. Not all restaurants will use these titles as each establishment may have its own set guidelines to organization.
Executive chef
The executive chef is in charge of everything related to the kitchen, including menu creation, staff management and business aspects. While the position requires extensive cooking experience and often involves actively cooking, it also involves a high level of management and business aspects of the kitchen. They can also be referred to as the “chef” or “head chef”. Although “head chef” may seem redundant, the word “chef” has come to be applied to any cook, kitchen helper or a fast food operator, making the distinction necessary.[1]
Chef de Cuisine
This title is often synonymous with the title of executive chef. This is the traditional French phrase where the title chef comes from and is more common in European kitchens or American kitchens with a classical French brigade system.
Sous chef
The Sous Chef is the direct assistant of the executive chef and is second in command. They may be responsible for scheduling, and filling in for the executive chef when they are off-duty. They also will fill in or assist the chef de partie (line cooks) when needed. Smaller operations may not have a sous chef, while larger operations may have multiple.
Expediter or Announcer (Aboyeur)
The expediter takes the orders from the dining room and relays them to the stations in the kitchen. This person also often puts the finishing touches on the dish before it goes to the dining room. In some operations this task may be done by either the executive chef or the sous chef.
Chef de Partie
A chef de partie, also known as a “station chef” or “line cook”, is in charge of a particular area of production. In large kitchens, each station chef might have several cooks and/or assistants. In most kitchens however, the station chef is the only worker in that department. Line cooks are often divided into a hierarchy of their own, starting with “First Cook”, then “Second Cook”, and so on as needed.
Station chef titles which are part of the brigade system include:
Sauté Chef (Saucier) [so.si.e] – Responsible for all sautéed items and their sauce. This is usually the highest position of all the stations.
Fish Chef (Poissonier) [pw?.so.?e] – Prepares fish dishes and often does all fish butchering as well as appropriate sauce. This station may be combined with the saucier position.
Roast Chef (Rotisseur) [?o.ti.sœ?] – Prepares roasted and braised meats and their appropriate sauce.
Grill Chef (Grillardin) [g?i.?a?.d??] – Prepares all grilled foods, this position may be combined with the rotisseur.
Fry Chef (Friturier) [f?i.ty.?je] – Prepares all fried items, position may be combined with the rotisseur position.
Vegetable Chef (Entremetier) [ã.t??.me.tje] – Prepares hot appetizers and often prepares the soups, vegetables, pastas and starches. In a full brigade system a potager would prepare soups and a legumier would prepare vegetables.
Roundsman (Tournant) [tu?.nã] – Also referred to as a swing cook, fills in as needed on station in kitchen.
Pantry Chef (Garde Manger) [ga?d mã.? They are responsible for preparing cold foods, including salads, cold appetizers, pâtés and other charcuterie items.
Butcher (Boucher) [bu.?e] – Butchers meats, poultry and sometimes fish. May also be responsible for breading meats and fish.
Pastry Chef (Pâtissier) [pa.ti.sje] – Prepare baked goods, pastries and desserts. In larger establishments, the pastry chef often supervises a separate team in their own kitchen or separate shop. Some kitchens may have an executive pastry chef.
Specialized and hierarchal chef titles are usually found only in fine-dining, upscale restaurants; kitchen staff members at casual restaurants such as diners may be called chefs but are more often called “cook” or “short-order cook.”
Kitchen assistants
An apprentice or (commis) in larger kitchens would work under a chef de partie or station chef in order to learn the station’s responsibilities and operation.
A communard would be in charge of preparing the meal for the staff during a shift. This meal is often referred to as family meal.
The escuelerie-dishwasher (from 15th century French) is the keeper of dishes, having charge of dishes and keeping the kitchen clean.
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